Shadows
by LittleMissShadow1919
Summary: Theres been a murder in Charleston. And the Virals are eager to help find the murderer. But when they are getting close to the truth, it may shock them. Because the murderer may turn out to be one of them. I suck at summaries, it's gonna be a lot better than it sounds, promise! Ben/Tory
1. Authors Note

**Hey guys! It's LittleMissShadow here… I'm a worshipper of the Virals series, By Kathy Reichs, I just finished Code and so I don't kill myself I've been reading online fanfiction. Unfortunately, theres actually not that much stuff on here! GASP! So… If I can't read a story, I'll write one. Now, I must confess. I have stolen Tory, Ben, Shelton, and Hi from Kathy… And I'm holding them hostage, along with Jessie and Lia, my two friends, who, ah… help me write. Okey dokey, I'll stop rambling and start typing. I'll just do the disclaimer… Actually, I wont.**

**Tory: Sigh, LittleMissShadow, you're so lazy. **

**Lia: I KNOW RIGHT! Once, we were at the beach, and-**

**Hi: Get on with the disclaimer already.**

**Lia: Why don't you!**

**Hi: Why don't YOU?**

**Lia: WHY DON'T YOU?**

**Hi: WHY-**

**Shelton: GUYS! OKAY. LittleMissShadow does not own me, Ben, Tory, Hi, Kathy Reichs, or anything to do with the Virals series.**

**Hi: Good thing too! Or Ben and Tory would be going out already, and the next book would be out, and Jason would be on some faraway planet, and-**

**Me: * clears throat * Um, quite enough now.**

**Tory: GET ON WITH THE FRICKING STORY!**

**Me: On it. I will update today… Hopefully.**


	2. Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Tory's POV

I heard whispers, but I was so tired.

I couldn't keep my eyelids open.

The hot sand underneath me burned.

I heard a mischievous voice murmur… "She's asleep!"

Who was this "she"? I wondered.

I heard a giggle, some whispering, then someone grabbed me.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I shrieked as Ben slung me over his shoulder with ease and began to pound down the beach.

He stopped at the edge of the water, and heaved me out into the icy water.

I floundered forward until my feet sunk into mud, (which shows you how far he threw me) and then started to struggle out of the waves.

Ben, Shelton, and Hi were bent over, laughing like crazy. Even Coop looked like he was laughing.

**SNAP**

The impact from the flare jarred my slender frame.

I almost fell to my knees but I managed to keep my balance. After the shock subsided, I smiled evilly at the boys.

Shelton was closest to me.

"Uh oh…" he had time to say before I darted toward him. His eyes were still chocolate brown, so he was no match for me. I tackled him and Shelton fell to the sand. "Nooooo, please!"

"No mercy!" I giggled, and hugged him. My dripping wet arms held him as he struggled. After 30 seconds, I let go, satisfied he was soaked.

I searched for the other Virals.

They were nowhere in sight.

Or, in ordinary human sight.

My epic eyes caught a flash of Hi's shirt as he shifted behind a bush at the treeline, some 30 metres away.

I circled around him in a big loop, moving silently and quickly until I was right behind him, when I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Next time, don't wear a bright red shirt," I suggested as I wrung my hair out onto his face.

Okay, Ben was going to be a little harder, considering he wears all black usually. But my wolfy-instincts alerted me to a slight movement only a couple metres away.

I slowly turned, pretending I hadn't caught it, then launched myself into the bush.

"Aargh!" Ben yelled.

Giggling hysterically, I pulled up my head, and realized I was lying on top of Ben, and our heads were so close they were almost touching.

Awkwaaaaaard…..

I jumped up and shook myself like a dog.

The remaining water splashed all over Ben.

"Fine, you win, Brennan," Ben said, getting up.

"Thank you," I said triumphantly.

**SNUP**

My flare whooshed out of me.

I walked back to the beach.

I didn't look back, but I knew Ben was following.

Shelton was lying peacefully in the sand, like I'd been doing before Ben'd picked me up.

Hi sat beside him.

"So, what're we gonna do now?" I asked as we rejoined Hi and Shelton.

"Don't know," Shelton mumbled.

Hi smirked. "Come on, guys, you can't be THAT dysfunctional. You HAVE to know this. What to do if you're bored, all alone on a beach with your friends, and it's an awesome day? Do I have to spell it out? Really? Okay, you play Truth Or Dare."

I jumped up. "HELL NO!" I shrieked.

"Why not, Miss Brennan?" Hi chuckled.

My face burned. "Let's just say I've had some bad experiences with this game."

"Come on," Shelton urged.

Ben scowled.

"Come on my dear sweet Tory, just one game."

"No."

"ONE game, Victoria, one game."

"Nein."

"TORY! PLEASE!" Hi moaned.

"Nicht."

"Come on, Tor!"

"Naaku Vaddu."

Hi looked surprised. "What language is that?"

"Telugu. And, FYI, NOT HAPPENING."

Hi sighed. "Such a shame, such a shame, I guess if you don't have time for bonding with us, I'll have to tell Whitney you love being a debut and want to get involved more."

I couldn't have sat down faster.

"ONE round, Stolowitski."

"Gotcha."

We formed a ragged circle in the scorching sand.

It went me, Shelton on my left, Ben opposite me, and Hi to my right.

"I'll start!" Hi volunteered. "Shelton, truth or dare."

"…Hmmm… Dare…"

"You're gonna regret that," I giggled.

"Yes, yes, you are…" Hi rubbed his hands together.

"Okay… Do you have your phone with you?"

"Yeeeeeah…" Shelton replied cautiously.

"What girls do you have in your contacts? Besides Tory."

For some reason, that stung a little. I didn't know why, it just felt like they didn't count me as a girl.

"Ummm, Zoe Rider, Clarisse Hodgeburns, and Lara Clam. And Mom."

"Oooh, Zoe. Okay, I dare you to text Zoe Rider that you think she's beautiful and you love her!"

Even I laughed at that. Zoe was a cheerleader, a wannabe of the Tripod of Skank. I briefly wondered how Shelton had got her number.

"Nooooooo!" Shelton moaned.

"Yeeeeeeeees," Hi laughed.

"Fine." Shelton took out his phone and tapped at the screen.

"Okay, done."

"Lovely. Now give your phone here so I can REALLY send her a text, because you sure as hell didn't."

"FINE."

Shelton handed his phone to Hi, who typed super fast and hit send.

"Mwahaha. Shelton, your turn."

"Ben."

Ben shifted his head around to look at Shelton.

"Get on with it, Devers. I know what your gonna ask, by the way, and my answers Truth."

Was it my imagination, or did Ben glance at me for a second when he said that?

Meh. Imagination.

Shelton and Hi cackled evilly as one.

Creepy.

"Ben… I truth you to…"

"Shelton, you don't say I truth you to say this. It sounds stupid," Hi said, ever the charmer.

"Whatever. The POINT is… Who would you rather kiss in this group."

"Oh, COME ON SHELTON!" Yelled Hi. "Ben's probably never going to pick Truth again. At least give him an EMBARRASSING truth."

Ben scowled. He was going to get wrinkles from scowling so much.

"Coop."

"I beg your pardon?" Shelton asked. "I don't think you understand me. I asked you who would you kiss in this GROUP."

"Well, by group I assumed you meant the Virals. And I wouldn't want to kiss you, Hi, or Tory, 'cause that would make it awkward. So I choose Cooper."

Great. The guy I like would rather kiss a freaking dog than me.

Wait.

WHAT?

**MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**

**Ah, Ben and Tory. I love you so much.**

**Moving on.**

**R&R, comment, give me ideas/feedback, rant with me about it...**

**Pretty much.**

**Oh, by the way, the Virals have something to say to you.**

**Tory:OMFG I DID NOT DO THAT! I HATE YOU LITTLEMISSSHADOW! HOW DARE YOU!**

**Me: *cowers***

**Ben: *scowls***

**Shelton: Okay... moving on.**

**Hi: What are we moving on to?**

**Shelton: Good point. Okay... um, bye.**

**Me: BYSIE BYE!**

**xoxo**

**-LittleMissShadow-**


	3. CHAPTER TWO

Paste your document

**Hi fluffy unicorns! So, I am so sorry that I havn't updated, but my crappy laptop crashed, so I had to beg my dad for a loan of his new one, and I'm typing in the car right now. It's super annoying cause I keep typing the wrong things. Whoa, I tried to type things and it ended up as thongs! Which is what us New Zealanders call underwear. Anywayz, I'll get writing.**

**Tory: LittleMissShadow does not own Ben, Hi, Shelton, me, or the Virals series. **

**Hi: Did anyone else notice how she said Ben's name first?**

**Shelton: True Lurve!**

**Tory: *launches self at Hi and Shelton intent on strangling them***

**Me: Ha-hem, calm down now. Back to the disclaimer and everything.**

**Jessie: She also wants to say that her name is LITTLE MISS SHADOW, not how she accidentally wrote it as the author, LittleMissSdow.**

**Lia: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha SHAME!**

**Me: Shut up. Typos happen.**

**Lia: Like that time when your friend tried to write Hey, except autocorrect changed it to Heaving? Hahaha. And Stag Gregarious.**

**Jessie: Inside joke. **

**Me: Yeah… I'm gonna start writing now.**

**Lia: I LOVE THIS SONG!**

**Jessie: We're listening to songs as we type and Girl At Home by Taylor Swift came on.**

**Lia: Taylor Swift. LOVE HER!**

**Me: *cough, cough* Writing?**

**Lia: Right, right.**

CHAPTER TWO

Tory's POV

What had just happened?

What had I just thought?

It had been one of those thoughts that just flicked across your mind and it didn't even make sense.

Did it?

"Tory? Earth to Tory?"

I blinked.

"Um, yeah?'

Hi smirked.

"Today, my dear Victoria."

"Uh, sorry, what?

"Lovely Mister Blue here just asked you Truth or Dare."

Oh.

Hmmmm.

Each option sounded pretty tortuous.

"Umm, Dare?"

A twinkle of amusement turned Ben's dark eyes from cold and apathetic to warm.

"Ooooh, Victoria," Hi giggled.

"TORY," I instinctively snapped.

Ben chuckled.

I shifted my gaze back to him.

"Uh huh? What is my dare?"

"For one week, starting now, your name is Victoria. You have to call yourself that, correct people if they call you Tory, and you can't complain at all."

I gaped.

"Hello, Victoria," Shelton said, crawling over to me. "My name is Shelton Devers. I don't believe we've met."

I hissed at him, then Ben.

"How could you do this to me? You know I hate my name!'

Ben grinned. "Hate to say this, Victoria, but that's why I did it."

"I'm going to get you back." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I know where you live."

Ben pretended to be scared.

I suddenly realised that Hi hadn't spoken for a minute or so, which pretty much got all my alarm bells ringing.

I turned to him.

He was staring up at the crag above us.

The crag was to Ben and Shelton's backs, but I could see quite clearly.

"Guys…"

Hi and I said at the same time.

Ben and Shelton spun to follow our lines of gaze.

"How long's he been there?" Shelton began to tug his earlobe.

"Who is he?" I wondered out loud.

A tall man stood on the crag above us, watching us.

I mean, openly staring, not even trying to hide it.

Even though he was twenty metres or so above us, I caught his eyes and in a second I was caught there.

I mean, literally caught.

I couldn't move.

Couldn't think.

Couldn't speak.

The man's ice blue eyes held me, suspended in time.

Space.

Eternity.

It felt like he was drilling through to my soul.

I tried to struggle.

I couldn't even think the idea before it was swept away, into the ice cold sea that was slowly but surely drowning me.

I tried to scream.

Not even a strangled squeak came out.

And then the chilling waves swept over my head and everything went black.

Ben's POV

"Tory!"

Shelton's shriek spun me around.

I saw Tory crumpled in the sand, her long red hair spread around her face, Hi gaping over her.

"She-she just collapsed!" Hi squeaked.

I jumped to Tory's side.

"Tory?"

I felt for a pulse, her heartbeat.

It was there, though scarily slow.

"Does she need CPR?" Shelton's voice quavered. " 'Cause I am not doing that."

"Tory? Tory Brennan?"

I shook her, heart constricting with fear.

What if she never woke up?

"What should we do?" Shelton was setting a record for how many times tugging your earlobe in a minute.

"TORY?!" I tried one last time, leaning over her.

An agonizing second passed.

Another.

Another.

Tory's emerald green eyes fluttered open.

"Tory!"

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding and impulsively hugged her.

For a second it was pure bliss.

Then I came back to earth with a bump.

Stupid.

I was so stupid.

"I'm… Glad you're all right, Tor."

I felt myself flush.

Tory grinned weakly.

"Victoria," she corrected.

"What?" I wondered.

Tory laughed.

"Remember the dare, Blue?"

A rush of understanding.

"Yes, Victoria," I said with a straight face. "I do."

Then we all started laughing hysterically.

**HELLO CHILDREN!**

**Did ya enjoy?**

**R & R!**

**Shelton: Hmm, wonder if I broke the record?**

**Hi: What record?**

**Shelton: The record of earlobe tugging, stupid.**

**Hi: I'm many things, but stupid is not one of them.**

**Me: Yeah… About this chapter. Okay, I'm a total Ben and Tory fan and I love romance. Sue me.**

**Jessie: Please review, and favourite, or LittleMissShadow will be sad!**

**Lia: You don't want to see her sad. I mean, tissues much?**

**Jessie: …yeah…**

**Me: Um…**

**Hi: Well this is awkward isn't it.**

**Shelton: Where are Ben and Tory?**

**Hi: Oooooh…**

**Lia: Calm your farm. They are sulking because LittleMissShadow is gonna make it so awkward for them in this story.**

**Me: Speaking of LURVE, *does theatre whisper* I think theres something going on between Jessie and Shelton!**

**Jessie: *blushes***

**Shelton: *blushes***

**Me: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! More news soon!**

**LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**-LittleMissShadow-**

here...


	4. CHAPTER THREE

Paste your document here

**Heyyyyyyyy! :D How ya doing? And thanks to my two reviewers so far, Kmb, and Virals6SharpShooter! Thanks for your support! Also, the reviewer called katniss191… She's my friend, just playing a prank. I have NOT moved the story. Sigh. Okaaaaay… **

**Lia: LittleMissShadow owns the Virals, Kathy Reichs, and everything to do with them.**

**Jessie: Lia! You're meant to say she DOESN'T own them, not she DOES!**

**Lia: Oops. Hehehe**

**Jessie: Btw, the Virals have gone to visit their families, so we had to write this without them.**

**Lia: She just misses Shelton.**

**Jessie: No I don't! Well, I do, but I miss all the Virals!**

**Lia: SHE ADMITTED IT!**

**Me: Sigh. Let's get writing before something more awkward happens.**

**Lia: Roger.**

**Jessie: ROGER?! Who's Roger?!**

**Me: Double sigh. Roger means YES, Jessie.**

**Jessie: How does ROGER mean YES?!**

**Lia: Triple sigh. Let's just write.**

**Me: Gooood idea.**

CHAPTER THREE

Tory's POV

Ingredients: One dizzy girl.

One clock that says three in the morning.

A bed.

A dark room.

Kit's snoring.

Add a little insomnia.

Stir.

I sighed.

I kept playing the day over in my head.

It was a pretty weird day, even for my standards.

My standards were getting shot at and catching a rare strain of parvovirus that genetically enhanced my DNA so I was part wolf.

Wow.

I reached across to my bedstand for my iPhone.

Hmmm, what game?

Soon I was playing Temple Run 2.

I'm addicted to the game.

Sue me.

After about two hours of tilting my phone crazily, it buzzed with a text.

Who the hell would text me at five in the morning?

Ben.

That's who.

He knew I'd be laying awake, worrying about the creepy man on the crag.

Okay, I was playing Temple Run 2, but close enough.

The text read, _Sure ur okay?_

Hmph.

_Yep_, I lied.

I felt better than I had at the crag, but not by much.

Mind-control really took it out of ya.

_Whatever_, the next text read.

A wave of dizziness washed over me.

My iPhone clattered to the floor.

My stomach flipped.

I leaned back against the wall, closing my eyes, waiting for it to pass.

A couple more seconds of nausea.

And it slowly ebbed away, leaving me sick and my head doing roly-poly's.

Okay.

I'd been having the dizzy spells ever since I… Since that guy…

Ugh.

I bent down to retrieve my iPhone, as another dizzy wave battered me.

I pitched forward, onto the floor, and couldn't get up.

Ben's POV

"Where. The. Hell. Is. Tory? We've texted, and called. It's just her stupid voicemail! She's like half an hour late to her own quote unquote VERY IMPORTANT MEETING." Hi was annoyed.

"Is she okay? She looked sorta… woozy…" Shelton was worried.

So was I.

"It's one in the freaking afternoon! No way she'd sleep this late. Should we go to her house to check if she's okay?" Shelton resumed tugging his earlobe.

"Yeah," I agreed.

Ten minutes later, we were standing outside her house.

We'd rung the doorbell twice.

Kit's car was gone, he was probably at LIRI.

But where was Tory?

After a couple more minutes, Hi stated what we were all thinking.

"All right, now I'm officially worried. She's either gone to LIRI with Kit, gone somewhere else, or been kidnapped by rabid sheep."

"Rabid sheep?" Shelton asked.

"Eh, only thing I could think of. Should we try the breaking-and-entering strategy?"

"Um… While Tory is fine about breaking into other people's homes, I doubt she'd be too pleased if we broke into her house. She's probably just in the shower or something." Shelton sighed.

"Visual I did not need, buddy," Hi groaned.

"Okay. How are we going to get inside?" I took charge of the situation.

"Lock-picking?" Shelton reached into his pocket and with a jangle produced his collection.

"Okay, try it."

Shelton poked around for about thirty seconds before shaking his head.

"Nah. Too complicated. Try the back?"

We trooped around the back of the house and got to the back door.

As luck would have it, the lock was an older model, and two minutes later we were walking through their eerily tidy kitchen, courtesy of Kit's girlfriend, Whitney.

Up the stairs to Tory's room.

We tapped on the door, waited, and went inside.

Tory was on the floor.

At first glance it looked like she was asleep.

"Huh, whaddaya know. She did oversleep." Shelton walked over and started to shake her.

"Whoa. Guys. She's not waking up…"

Hi and I darted over to help him.

"Oh, my God," Hi moaned. "Not again…"

As before, her pulse was slow and irregular.

"How did you wake her up yesterday?! Ben?!" Shelton sounded hysterical.

"I… Don't know… I just… said her name…"

"WELL SAY IT AGAIN!" Hi sounded quite close to freaking out too, which was surprising.

"TORY!" I yelled in her face.

Slapped her.

Yelled again.

Shook her.

More yelling.

"Uh, Ben…" Hi said, strangled. "Her pulse is slowing…"

I ignored him, kept shaking her, kept screaming at her.

I lifted her head and let it bang down against the hard wooden floor.

Nothing.

"Let's call the ambulance," Shelton shrieked.

"We can't!" Hi yelled. "They'll find out about the virus!"

"Who cares?!" Shelton screamed back. "She needs help!"

"No… Ambulance…" Tory croaked.

My head whipped back to her.

She looked terrible.

Pale and clammy, her red hair was sticking up in knots.

But worst of all was the colour of her eyes.

Their usual bright green was replaced by a dull grey.

She noticed me staring at her.

"What's… Wrong?"

"EVERYTHING'S WRONG!" Shelton shrieked.

Or he would have shrieked, but it was more of a squeak.

"I thought you said you were okay!" I hissed.

"…I am…" Tory said.

Hi snorted.

"Your pulse was like once every four seconds. You just about died. SURE you're fine."

"…Oh…" Tory said.

"Look, let's get you into bed," I said.

Effortlessly lifting her bridal style into the bed, I pulled her covers over her.

"I think one of us should stay here and watch her," Hi said.

"Okay, I will," Shelton cut in before I could volunteer.

Hi marched out of the room.

I lingered for a second, looking at Tory's dreary grey eyes.

What was going on?

Then I followed Hi out of the room.

...


	5. CHAPTER FOUR

Paste your document her

**Hiiii! Thank you to my reviewers! Oooooh, suspense! Whats happening?! Poor, dear Tory. :) Kk, starting writing soon.**

**I'm really sorry about the long wait, but I've been super busy and I'm writing two other books. I'll try to update once each week…**

**Lia: LittleMissShadow does not own… Blah, blah, blah…**

**Jessie: Do it properly!**

**Lia: Make me!**

**Me: JUST GONNA STAND THERE AND WATCH ME BURN, BUT THAT'S ALRIGHT CAUSE I LIKE THE WAY IT HURTS… JUST GONNA STAND THERE AND HEAR ME CRY, BUT THAT'S ALRIGHT, CAUSE I LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE!**

**Jessie: Um…**

**Lia: Excuse the strangled cat. She's addicted to that song.**

**Me: Excuse me? I'M a strangled cat? Do you not remember the time when you popped that random girl's eardrum?**

**Lia: That was a one time thing.**

**Me: Sure it was.**

CHAPTER FOUR

Tory's POV

I woke, terrified, sitting straight up in bed.

Hi was watching me from the chair in the corner of my room, solemn for once.

I felt even more nauseated than yesterday. And… something felt missing from my mind, like a memory or something, but when I tried to think of it, there was just a void.

I tried to remember back to yesterday.

I remembered falling off my bed, then waking with a ringing in my ears and the Virals bending over me.

Hi nodded at me.

"Sleeping beauty awakes," He said. "Nightmare?"

I tilted my head, trying to remember my dream, but only recalled blackness and a feeling of pure terror.

What was wrong with me?

"Can I… Get up?"

Hi grimaced.

"Maybe not such a good idea, Tor."

"Why?"

I swung my legs out of bed and saw why.

"Ohhhh,"I moaned as the room bucked and spun.

"How are you?" Hi asked.

Right away, from his tone, I could tell he was hiding something.

"What?!" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Hi avoided my question.

"What's happened? Something bad's happened!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"Hi lied.

"Terrible liar."

"Okay, fine. The guys didn't want me to tell you yet, but you know anyway. Sometimes I think you must be psychic."

"Tell me!" I shrieked.

"Calm your farm."

"HI, I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG IN THE NEXT FEW SECONDS WHAT IS UP I WILL…"

"You'll what?"

"Next time we flare, I'll look through your mind and-"

"Okayfinei'lltellyoujustdontgothroughmymindplease! "

I waited.

"Okay… You know the three popular brats, Courtney, Ashley, and Madison?"

"Yeah…"

I had had some bad experiences with the Tripod of Skank.

"Well… So, you woke up yesterday…"

"Wait, WHAT? It's tomorrow?!"

"Um… Okay. Point is, yesterday morning Madison went missing from her mansion… And this morning she was found out on Loggerhead… Well, her body was. She'd been killed of multiple stab wounds to the chest and stomach…"

"Madison's… dead?"

"'Fraid so…" Hi shifted uncomfortably.

"There's something else," I guessed instantly. "Something you're not telling me."

"Tory, seriously, you should go to ESP meetings or something."

"Remember the threat?" I reminded him.

"Okay. Fine. Tory, the knife was beside her. And your fingerprints were all over it."

Stunned silence.

"But… How could that be possible? I was out almost all of yesterday!"

"… I know. The police want you for questioning."

Crap.

"Oh, god." I dropped my head into my hands.

"And… You may want to look in a mirror…"

By Hi's tone, I knew something was very wrong.

I attempted to rush to the mirror, but fell to the floor and bashed my head.

Great. Now I had a headache, on top of a headache, on top of a headache.

Just what I always wanted.

Hi stood back, took a picture of me on his iPhone, then showed it to me.

"What the frick?"

My green eyes.

Or my ex-green eyes.

Were a colourless grey.

"Oh. My. God. What is WRONG with me?"

Ben's POV

_She's awake. And freaking out._

I read Hi's text, relief and worry battling inside me.

_You told her?! B_

_She told herself! H_

_That makes no sense! Hold up, I'll be right over. B_

_Gotcha. H_

I hurried outside, just as Dad came in the door.

"Hi," I said, trying to inch past him out the door.

Dad noticed and frowned. "Where do you think you're going? The dishes aren't going to wash themselves."

Sighing, I walked back into the kitchen.

No point argueing with him.

…...

"Ben. Mail." Dad said from behind his newspaper.

I extracted my arms from the soap bubbles and walked down the path to the mailbox.

A newspaper, two pieces of junk mail, a couple bills, letter for dad and… A letter for me?

Nobody wrote to me.

Scowling, I walked back inside.

Once I was safe in the kitchen, I slit open the envelope with a knife.

A folded piece of paper fell out.

Unfolding it, my skin crawled.

A sketch of Tory was scrawled on the inside.

But it was Tory as I'd seen her yesterday, broken and exhausted, lying under her covers as I walked out the door.

No one else had been there.

What was going on?

Underneath the picture was

_If you want Victoria Grace Brennan to get better, you have to do exactly as I say. Don't try to track me down. Don't do anything I haven't said. And most important, don't tell anyone. The second you do, Victoria will go to sleep forever. _

_Miss Rosalind. _

**OMG! Who's Miss Rosalind? What does she want Ben to do? Who killed Madison? So many questions! **

**:D**

**Jessie: Please don't make this story too scary!**

**Lia: *cough* chicken. Make it really bloody and gory with-**

**Me: SHUT UP! DON'T RUIN IT!**

**Lia: So-rry.**

**Hi: We're back! **

**Tory: Wasn't it obvious?**

**Me: I SAT DOWN AND CRI-I-I-I-IED. DIDN'T THEY CALL YOU… DIDN'T THEY NEED YOU BAD ENOUGH, WAS THERE SOME REASON, I'M NOT AWARE OF… DID YOU NOT WRITE IT DOWN, JUST ONE MORE THING TO DO, WHERE WERE YOU, AND DIDN'T THEY PRAY TOO?**

**Lia: Didn't They by Taylor Swift.**

**Me: So… *stage whisper* Shelton SO likes Jessie!**

**Shelton: I DO NOT! *blushes***

**Jessie: OMG NO! *turns into a tomato***

**Lia: God, just go out already, get married, and have three kids called June, Maddy and Frederick.**

**Jessie: …I'm thirteen…**

**Lia: Age is just a number…**

**Me: Ignore Lia. She's just grumpy because she and Leo Valdez from the Percy Jackson books broke up yesterday.**

**Lia: ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES. WO-OH-OH, WO-OH-OH, WO-OH-OH, WO-OH-OH, IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT, IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT, DON'T BE MAD ONCE YOU SEE THAT HE WANT IT, IF YOU LIKE IT THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT!**

**Me: I think we all know that one.**

**Lia: True.**

**Me: Oh, if you have Google+, add me! I'm Ariane Turton! : )**

**Jessie: She's addicted.**

**Me: Yep.**

**The Virals: Get writing!**

**Me: Sigh. Okay.**

**-LittleMissShadow-**

**Hi! Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I love you! You know the drill, read, review, favourite, add me… Seriously, a review is only a few clicks for you and yet it means so much to me. Pleeeeease? *does adorable puppy dog eyes then remembers you can't see them* Ah, well. Where are Jessie and Lia you may ask? Well, Jessie and Shelton have gone on a double date with Lia and Hi! I know! I was like, OMG! Well, they said it was "as friends" but they were LYING!**

**Tory: Did you know that when she was writing "Jessie and Shelton have gone on a double date with Lia and Hi" she actually wrote "Jessie and Shelton have gone on a double date with Tory and Ben" then she erased it?**

**Me: Jeez. It was a JOKE.**

**Tory: Sure it was.**

**Me: Ben, do the disclaimer. You've never done it before.**

**Ben: No.**

**Me: Yes.**

**Ben: No.**

**Me: Yes! If you do it I will say a really awkward experience that happened at my school disco a few days ago!**

**Ben: N-**

**Tory: YES HE'LL DO IT BEN JUST DO THE FREAKING DISCLAIMER I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT LITTLEMISSSHADOW'S AWKWARD MOMENT!**

**Ben: Fine. LittleMissShadow does not own me, Tory, Hi, or Shelton. Or Kit or Whitney or Madison or-**

**Tory: …Okay then… Awkward experience?**

**Me: Okay. So, I was at my disco, and there were loads of people. And Love Story by Taylor Swift came on, and I was just walking around singing it, and then clumsy me tripped over, skidded on my knees right up to this guy, still singing, and when he noticed me, I was singing, "Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone, I love you and that's all I really know…" And I was down on my knees and everything! And he was like "WTF?!" Wow, it was awkward.**

**Tory: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAH AHAHAHAAHAHA**

**Me: …**

**Ben: Get writing…**

**Me: …good idea…**

e...


End file.
